at&t android

ACLU to FTC: Mobile carriers fail to provide good Android security

The America Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission today asking the agency to investigate the four major mobile carriers' security practices in regards to smartphones.

The civil liberties group claims that AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint are not doing enough to protect users' private and personal data -- specifically on Android devices. The gist of the complaint (PDF) is that these carriers aren't providing users with timely security updates, which the ACLU says is akin to "deceptive and unfair business practice."

"The major wireless carriers have sold millions of … Read more

FCC refuses to state the obvious: Mobile market is competitive

Late last month, the FCC issued its 16th Mobile Competition Report, a 400-page document that analyzes in detail the competitive landscape for mobile carriers and the ecosystem that surrounds them.

Congress charged the FCC with answering one simple question in the annual report: Is there "effective competition" in the mobile ecosystem?

But since the 2009 confirmation of Genachowski as the chairman, the FCC has refused to answer the question one way or the other. Here, as in its previous two reports, the commission comes tantalizingly close to the right conclusion, but then backs away from it in the … Read more

AT&T announces slew of other devices getting ICS update

Looks like the HTC Vivid isn't the only AT&T phone getting the Ice Cream Sandwich treatment.

The carrier announced today a number of other devices that will be eligible for the Android 4.0 update in the next few months.

These handsets include: the LG Nitro, Motorola Atrix 2, Motorola Atrix 4G, Pantech Burst, Pantech Element, Samsung Captivate Glide, Samsung Galaxy Note, Samsung Galaxy S II, Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket, and Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9.

Again, it will be a couple of months until the update rolls out, but we're excited. As hot as … Read more

LG Nitro HD first impressions: LG's time to shine?

This year has been the year of the superphone, but LG seems to have missed the memo the first time around, offering some solid Android handsets, but very little to cut into Samsung, HTC, and Motorola's Android dominance.

With the premium LG Nitro HD phone for AT&T, the handset-maker hopes to close out the year with a bang.

AT&T ruined its own surprise by announcing the Nitro HD a full four days ahead of its launch event in New York, but it wasn't until then that we got a chance to see it in the flesh.

Design The Nitro HD starts things off right with a 4.5-inch "true HD AH-IPS" display and a 326ppi-pixel density. As with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and the HTC Rezound, the Nitro HD has a 1,280x720-pixel resolution. Much is made of screens these days (as it should be), and LG is claiming that the Nitro HD's screen will pack 500 nits of luminance, a measure of brightness. (The LG Marquee has an extremely bright 700-nit screen.)

The screen was large, bright, and beautiful indeed, and colors looked vibrant, and true to life. We won't be able to get really down and dirty with screen comparisons until we lay the Nitro HD, Rezound, and Galaxy Nexus side by side and put them all through their paces for color, brightness, and clarity. … Read more

Samsung Captivate Glide thumbs-on review: Keyboard bummer

AT&T's Samsung Captivate Glide is one of the carrier's two new Android-toting slider phones (the other is the Samsung DoubleTime.)

The Captivate Glide looks and feels like a member of the Samsung Galaxy S II pack, albeit a lesser model, with slightly more modest specs. There are still 4G speeds to be had with the HSPA+ network, and a dual core processor running the show with Android Gingerbread. However, there are also a couple of design flaws I had a hard time looking past, like the weak link of the keyboard, a bad Achilles heel to … Read more

Security becoming a must on smartphones (Inside Apps)

When writing a weekly column about the apps business, it's easy to get caught up in the new opportunities, capabilities, and trends emerging in this burgeoning area. It's equally easy to forget they come with new threats.

These threats, which include rogue apps that can swipe your personal data or steal passwords for your bank accounts, are real and growing.

A recent study conducted by security software provider McAfee found that that amount of malicious software, also known as malware, targeting Android had jumped 76 percent since the previous quarter, a remarkable rise in just three months. At … Read more

AT&T introduces budget-friendly Impulse 4G

In contrast to last week's announcement of the pricey HTC Jetstream,, AT&T is going the affordable route this week with the introduction of the Impulse 4G by Huawei, an Android smartphone that's easy on the wallet.

The Impulse 4G, which will be available starting September 18 for $29.99 with a two-year contract, has a decent set of features, though there are some trade-offs. The Android 2.2 device has a 3.8-inch WVGA touch screen, a 5-megapixel camera with 720p HD video capture, and an 800MHz processor.

The smartphone is also compatible with AT&… Read more

Gizmodo not charged in iPhone 4 theft

Hewlett-Packard permanently cuts the price of the TouchPad to just $399, Google is reportedly rushing to finish the Ice Cream Sandwich update to its Android operating system, and the San Mateo, Calif., district attorney has filed charges in the theft of an iPhone 4 prototype but not against Gizmodo.

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

iPhone 4 charged filed against two men but not Gizmodo HTC buys Beats by Dr. Dre HP cuts price of TouchPad to $399 Google rushing to finish Ice Cream Sandwich Verizon and AT&T block jailbroken tetherers Nintendo 3DS gets "Flame Red" … Read more

Verizon reportedly blocking tethering for jailbreakers

Verizon is reportedly preventing jailbreakers from unauthorized tethering, at least according to one account at ReadWriteWeb.

The tech blogging site recently revealed that one of its own employees tried to use a jailbroken Motorola phone without a data plan to tether on Verizon's network. But instead of gaining access, the person was "blocked" by Verizon and redirected to a page describing the carrier's terms and conditions for using a mobile hot spot.

If accurate, this is a new development on the part of Verizon since the employee said she was able to use her jailbroken device … Read more

Why you should think twice about buying a new BlackBerry

commentary If you're thinking about picking up one of those fancy new BlackBerrys, let me explain for a minute or so why that may not be a very good idea.

Research In Motion finally answered the pleas of the BlackBerry faithful for a new device with a promotional blitz today, announcing multiple phones for different carriers around the world. In the U.S., AT&T has committed to selling three BlackBerrys, including a next-generation Torch, the touch-screen version of its smash-hit Bold phone, and a touch-screen-only phone called the Torch 9860. Sprint Nextel said it too will be … Read more